“We are very interested in a long-term solution,” Duncan said. “The idea of coming back every two years to try and fix something, with all the real challenges we face, and the fact that we can’t take this off the table… I just don’t understand it. I look forward to working with you and others to find some common ground.”

Duncan’s response to Klein here. 

HR 1911 is expected to be considered by the full House this Thursday.

All three institutes will be selected through an open, competitive process, led by the Departments of Energy and Defense, with review from a multi-agency team of technical experts. Winning teams will be selected and announced later this year.

Tuesday

• The Senate Budget Committee holds a confirmation hearing for Office of Management and Budget Director nominee Sylvia Mathews Burwell.
• The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a full committee hearing on the nomination of Dr. Ernest Moniz to be the Secretary of Energy.

Wednesday

• President Barack Obama releases his FY14 budget request (link will be active upon release of budget).
• The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee holds a confirmation hearing for Office of Management and Budget Director nominee Sylvia Mathews Burwell.

Thursday

• The House Ways and Means Committee with hold a full committee hearing on the President’s FY14 Budget Proposal.
• The Senate Budget Committee will hold a full committee hearing on the President’s FY14 Budget Proposal.
• The Senate Finance Committee will hold a full committee hearing on the President’s FY14 Budget Proposal.

President’s Budget: The President’s FY14 budget proposal, set to be released Wednesday, will include $1.8 trillion in deficit reduction over the coming decade and propose dramatically shrinking, but not eliminating, the deficit by 2023. It would cut the deficit by eliminating some tax deductions for the wealthy and making entitlement cuts. The new budget effectively incorporates the President’s “grand bargain” that was offered to Republicans in the late December fiscal cliff debate, including a stingier measure of inflation that would shrink increases in Social Security and other benefits across the government, cut Medicare payments to drug companies, and require wealthier seniors to pay higher premiums. It also would increase revenue through “bracket creep” in the tax code. The President’s budget faces tough critics in Congress, on both sides of the aisle.

A senior administration official confirmed Friday that the FY14 budget will propose an increase in the tobacco tax to partially offset the cost of providing free, universal preschool for all low- and moderate-income children. Obama’s early education plan, first unveiled in his State of the Union address, would create a new federal-state partnership to provide all low- and moderate-income 4-year-old children with high-quality preschool, expand the programs to additional children from middle-class families and provide incentives for full-day kindergarten policies.

Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative: The Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy announced on March 26^th the Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative (CEMI), a new Department effort focused on expanding U.S. manufacturing of clean energy products and increasing energy use in manufacturing processes.

BRAIN Initiative: President Obama unveiled the BRAIN (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) Initiative last week, which aims to help researchers find new ways to treat, cure, and prevent brain disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy, and traumatic brain injury.

Gun safety/control: Prospects for a bipartisan deal to expand federal background checks for gun purchases are improving. Read more here.  

Immigration:  Five things to watch for in the immigration debate. 

Military TA programs provide up to $4,500 per year for active-duty troops who are attending high school completion courses and certificate programs, or are working toward college degrees. According to the Army, 201,000 soldiers took advantage of the Army’s TA program in fiscal year 2012. The TA program provided $373 million, helping 2,831 soldiers earn associate degrees, 4,495 earn bachelor degrees and 1,946 receive graduate degrees.

The Navy and the Air Force are considering similar cuts, but as yet, have not publicly decided to follow suit.

UW estimates this will keep 100 soldiers from using TA in the Spring Quarter across all three campuses.

SEQUESTRATION ORDER FOR FISCAL YEAR 2013 PURSUANT TO SECTION 251A OF THE BALANCED BUDGET AND EMERGENCY DEFICIT CONTROL ACT, AS AMENDED

By the authority vested in me as President by the laws of the United States of America, and in accordance with section 251A of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act, as amended (the “Act”), 2 U.S.C. 901a, I hereby order that budgetary resources in each non-exempt budget account be reduced by the amount calculated by the Office of Management and Budget in its report to the Congress of March 1, 2013.

Pursuant to sections 250(c)(6), 251A, and 255(e) of the Act, budgetary resources subject to sequestration shall be new budget authority, unobligated balances of defense function accounts carried over from prior fiscal years, direct spending authority, and obligation limitations.

All sequestrations shall be made in strict accordance with the requirements of section 251A of the Act and the specifications of the Office of Management and Budget’s report of March 1, 2013, prepared pursuant to section 251A(11) of the Act.

BARACK OBAMA

THE WHITE HOUSE,

March 1, 2013